The Hindi caption of the clip read: “Modi Ji receiving blessings from one of the two Shankaracharyas at Ambani’s wedding by touching his feet. The other Shankaracharya kept asking about Ram Mandir and refused the invitation and did not even attend the inauguration of Ram Mandir.
“Modi Ji didn’t even look at him. A huge insult. Tit for tat.”
None of the four Shankaracharyas were present at the inauguration of the flashpoint Ram Mandir in the northern city of Ayodhya in January.
The temple, which embodied the triumph of the prime minister’s strong Hindu nationalist policies, was built on a site where a mosque stood for centuries until it was demolished by Hindu zealots incited by members of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to local media, the Shankaracharyas said they were not anti-Modi or against the temple, but that they chose to to be absent because the rituals followed for the ordination were ‘contrary to Scripture’ (archived link).
The clip in which Modi is reportedly seen ignoring one of the Shankaracharyas was also shared elsewhere on Facebook hereas well as on X here And here.
But Modi in fact received the blessings of both popes.
Shankaracharya blessings
A reverse search on Google using a keyframe from the erroneously shared clip found the same video was posted as a Facebook reel on the verified page of Indian television (archived link).
The caption is the same as the text above the video: “Shankaracharya Sadanand Saraswati blessed Narendra Modi by draping a chunari around him”.
There is no mention of Modi insulting the other Shankaracharya – Avimukteshwaran and Saraswati – during the wedding.
Below is a screenshot of the wrongly shared clip (left) and India TV’s Facebook reel (right):
India TV also posted another story Facebook reel where Modi receives the blessings of both the Shankaracharyas (archived link).
The caption of the video reads: “Shankaracharya Avimukteshwarananda removed his garland and placed it around Modi.”
Modi can be seen touching and bowing to Avimukteshwaranand’s feet, and the Shankaracharya placing the garland on the Prime Minister’s head.
Modi is then shown greeting Shankaracharya Sadanand, who is seated next to Avimukteshwaranand. The video shows Modi with a scarf draped over his head from a different angle than the previous Facebook reel.
Below is a screenshot of the wrongly shared video (left) and India TV’s Facebook reel (right):
The images of Modi receiving blessings from both Hindu leaders were also shared in reports posted on YouTube by other news sources here, here And here (archived links here, here And here).
Another clip of Modi receiving blessings from Avimukteshwaranand was also uploaded to the Hindu pontiff officially Facebook page (archived link).
The caption read: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi receiving blessings from the Shankaracharya in Mumbai”.
Avimukteshwaranand denies rumours of tension between Shankaracharyas and Modi told local media: “It is our rule that we will bless whoever comes to us. Narendra Modi ji is not our enemy” (archived link).
